Fools
by WalnutSpirit
Summary: A seven chapter collection of SkyeWard drabbles based on Lauren Aquilina's song Fools. Post The Only Light in the Darkness.
1. Chapter 1

**Fools **

**Summary: **A seven chapter collection of SkyeWard drabbles based on Lauren Aquilina's song _Fools. _Set after_ The Only Light in the Darkness. _

* * *

_Those hardest to love need it most _

Grant Ward never had the American Dream childhood. His family didn't go to picnics together, they never had lovely little board game nights, nor did they bicker over the dining table. When they fought, the shouts and screams were terrifyingly high, and at all other times he tried to keep as silent as possible. When he was a kid he used to fantasise about a more normal upbringing, but he certainly didn't miss that now. All memories of the time before Garrett found him were safely locked away inside of him, in a far off place that he had promised himself to never visit. Grant Ward did not need a reminder of the past.

It stood to reason though that everything that had happened to him had made him into the man he was today. He wasn't unsatisfied. He knew he was harsh and hard, and he liked it that way. A tough shell kept most feelings at bay. He was a brilliant specialist, great at his job, and that made things remarkably easy – work was the one thing he cared about. It's what he lived for. Funny how him sometimes taking other people's lives made his seem worth living.

Getting on the Bus had not been his decision, and in the beginning he didn't like it much. Grant Ward had gone in with the attitude of not liking it, since that would complicate things. He didn't enjoy the close quarters of always being up in the air, and he didn't care for the people up there with him. Sure Coulson turned out to be a good leader that he would like to learn from, and that the Cavalry was impressive was not exactly a surprise. But Coulson's repeated niceties made Grant Ward's fist begin to itch, and the fact that Melinda May kept sporting the same expression was unnerving. Worse, of course, were the science twins, who he could not for the life of him understand half the things they said. And they said a lot, always talking at the same time, their sharp accents making most of it an annoying blur.

He had been ready to take out Skye the minute she claimed he couldn't tell Simmons apart from Fitz, and that none of them could get on the same page as the other. It certainly was true, but it frustrated him none the less, especially coming for someone like her.

At least that was how it started, and Grant Ward would have been happy to keep it that way. But the longer he stayed on that Bus, the more he actually got to work and interact with the team, the more his views on them changed. Fitzsimmons certainly knew their subjects, and even though he still didn't understand much of what they kept talking about, their constant voices had become almost comforting, and he found himself wanting to protect them both. Signing up as Skye's SO had been a surprise even to himself, but he had come to enjoy her company, and though it was difficult as hell to get her to see sense sometimes, he had to admit, at least to himself, that he really liked watching her turn into some sort of agent. May was in a way the same, but she seemed softer somehow, or maybe it was just the way he perceived her now. Coulson turned out to be a better leader than Garrett, not that it mattered.

None of it mattered in the end; he was still there on someone else's behalf. He had a job to do. And he wouldn't be Grant Ward if he didn't do it, any sentiment he might feel locked away once more. Because that was just the way he had to live.


	2. Chapter 2

**Fools **

**Summary: **A seven chapter collection of SkyeWard drabbles based on Lauren Aquilina's song _Fools. _Set after_ The Only Light in the Darkness. _

* * *

_Do we take that risk? _

Grant Ward. In a way his name fit him like a glove. Grant for Great, Ward for Protector. He wasn't usually too involved as to protect things other than what his mission stated, but he had become a protector for the team. For her. Skye was new at everything agent related, and though she did pick up things fast, she wasn't in any position to protect herself most of the time. He saw her truly as a rookie, a weak little orphan, with great sentiment and empathy. He wanted her out of the field for as long as possible, for he would hate to see her hurt. As her SO, of course, nothing more. He didn't want to admit that she might actually be able to stand her own. She wasn't trained mentally like he was, but she knew people and from what he'd seen she was really good at improvising. But she was far from an agent yet, and he felt it was his responsibility to keep her safe – her more than anyone else on the team.

Skye had chosen her own name. The orphanage could not be accused of doing a good job at it, so when she got out she renamed herself. Skye. It was quite literary inspired from the sky, that vast space, bigger than anything else, with everything in it, belonging both to the Earth and to the Universe. It was what she wanted. Something big, and somewhere to belong and fit in. A purpose and a family. Plus, the name was spunky.

Signing on to a front row seat at the craziest show on earth turned out to be way better than she expected. She suddenly had something to strive for, other than finding a long gone past. Skye could see a future, with S.H.I.E.L.D., as a field agent. She actually thought she might be really good at it – she would learn how to fight, and she knew how to trust her instincts in difficult situations. She was clever. Skye might never become a Melinda May, but she would be damned if she didn't give it her best trying to get there.

Becoming a part of an organisation like that had in a way given her what she had been searching for her entire life, too. The Bus became more of a home than her van, and the team turned into her family. She cared an awful lot for every one of them, even the ones that seemed to have trouble reciprocating those feelings. Skye had never been one to shy away from stronger emotions. Sure she tried to save herself the trouble when she was younger, knowing in her gut that she would be denied every family that showed interest in her, apart from the orphanage. But she honestly thought that pain and hurt was as much a part of life as love and joy, and so she embraced all of it most of the time. The people on the Bus seemed to get used to her, just as she got used to them.

And then there was Ward.

He was different from any other guy she had met. He wasn't just quiet, he was silent, with a permanent frown, and a grumpy mask that sat so tight she first thought it to be his honest face. But it wasn't. He opened up, slowly, to all of them, and would laugh when they did. She saw a good person beneath the exterior of the harsh agent, and Skye found that she wanted to get closer to that person. Ward was interesting and new, and both kind and almost frightening at the same time. Even when he pushed her to do further pull-ups, there was a part of her longing for him.

In the end, it wouldn't be worth it. He knew that. He knew he was little more than a soldier in a brewing war most people had no idea would be coming. And he knew the protocol; he knew what was expected of him. He knew he didn't actually want anything with her, other than to keep her out of harm's way. What Grant Ward didn't know was how she kept managing to get under his skin, and into his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Fools **

**Summary: **A seven chapter collection of SkyeWard drabbles based on Lauren Aquilina's song _Fools. _Set after_ The Only Light in the Darkness. _

* * *

_We are too fragile just to guess _

He was difficult to read. As it turned out, most S.H.I.E.L.D.-agents were, at least according to Coulson. They had to be. "Manipulation is part of our job, we even teach it at the Academy", he had told her. Skye realised how important it was for an agent to keep cool during certain missions, she realised it could be the difference between succeeding and flat out dying. Yet it felt wrong. She believed in truth, always had. That was what she had been looking for, that was the reason she had joined both The Rising Tide and S.H.I.E.L.D. She searched for it, craved it, not only for herself, but for everyone. In a world so corrupt and dangerous, Skye was a firm believer that truth would do more good than harm. Although, she had have reason to doubt that belief recently, getting a better understanding of how the agents she now worked with operated. Maybe some truths should remain hidden, but they were few. In the bigger picture, she still held on to her original thoughts, those that had inspired her to become a hactivist.

None of that made it easier with Ward, though. Skye knew very little about him, about his life. She knew only what she had seen – the black ops specialist, the trained spy, the order following agent. She had also seen his fierce protection of them all, and a somewhat more relaxed person who enjoyed board games in his free time. That, and punching a boxing bag. He was interesting, yes, but hard to get answers from. And Skye was always looking for answers. The only personal thing she knew about him was the painful memories of his past including his brother, but that was obviously something he never wanted to talk about. So she kept trying to get to know him, but she couldn't make herself go too far. Part of her was afraid she wouldn't be ready for the commitment of what getting too close might actually entail. She didn't want to guess with him, but so far, that was all she was ever able to do.


	4. Chapter 4

**Fools **

**Summary: **A seven chapter collection of SkyeWard drabbles based on Lauren Aquilina's song _Fools. _Set after_ The Only Light in the Darkness. _

* * *

_I want you more than I've wanted anyone. Isn't that dangerous? _

It made him slightly mad, it made him definitely frustrated, and it might even make him angry. But most of all, it made him scared. And Grant Ward _hated _to be scared. It took him longer than he would have anticipated to figure out that he actually did want something from her, that he cared for her a lot more than what was appropriate. Not only was it a bad move since they worked together, it was even worse since he was her supervising officer, but most of all, it was terrible because he wasn't actually a part of the team. At least not according to Garrett, and in the end, he was the one Grant Ward had to listen to. He had his mission, and getting involved with someone was not a part of that. Especially not her.

He didn't know exactly what Garrett wanted with Skye, but he could guess it was bad. She was important to Garrett for reasons he didn't need to know. His job description didn't entail knowing, it was only a matter of doing. It hurt though, to think of her in the hands of HYDRA. Whatever they wanted with her, it was not to keep her safe. And as soon as he handed her to them, it would be out of his control to look after her. And so the thoughts of her scared him, because he did care about her, and it made him angry, because he lost focus off of his job. Sentiment always complicated things, which was why he never held with any of it. Except for her. Skye was the exception, and he cursed himself whenever he thought about it. A worse exception would indeed be hard to find. Everything about his situation involving her was dangerous, and it frustrated him to no end.

Of course, it was stupid. Foolish, really. She wasn't sure what she had expected from such a crush, but in hindsight it was rather easy to see that it could not have gone well. She meant so little, and it didn't surprise her. She was only another task on his to do-list, he gave her instructions, and then yelled at her for not following them. A platonic coworker/SO relationship. Nothing more. More was what he had found with May, of all people. It had surprised her at first, and hurt her more than she wanted to admit, but it made sense. They were both sealed off from the emotional world, and she guessed they found some sort of comfort in each other. Agent May was everything Skye wasn't, everything she expected he wanted her to be. An actual agent to start with.

Despite all that she kept trying to get closer to him. Why she couldn't even figure out herself, there was just something within that kept saying there might be something there. So she went just a little bit further.


	5. Chapter 5

**Fools **

**Summary: **A seven chapter collection of SkyeWard drabbles based on Lauren Aquilina's song _Fools. _Set after_ The Only Light in the Darkness. _

* * *

_My feelings written on my face _

Her world came crashing down, for what seemed like the tenth time in the last month. Skye wished she had never ever left her van. She wished she had never sat foot in the Bus, she wished she had never made contact with Mike Peterson. She even wished she had never become involved in The Rising Tide. Everything that had happened since was bad, every memory of laughter turned sour in her mouth. He was HYDRA. And S.H.I.E.L.D. was gone.

She was alone.

Again.

Coming to Providence, things had still felt okay, they would be able to make things alright. Things could crash and burn around her, as long as Skye's own centre remained intact. Her team was, and so they would go on, figure out how to fix the problem, and then continue the way they had before. That seemed like such a naïve dream now.

Her team was broken, and nothing remained. She had finally gotten him to open up, to take part of her heart in his protecting hands, only to have him crush it like a grape. Never before had her world seemed less bright, never before had she been out of her comfort zone this much. Skye trembled, and tried to take a deep breath. She was terrified.

The thing was, she couldn't let that matter now. She had no time, no plan, no clue what to do, but she had to do something. Improvise; try to play him if she could. Skye was positive that it wouldn't work, seeing as how he had managed to fool them all, and would inevitably see through her pathetic excuse of a con right away, but she had to try. He hadn't taken all of her heart, not yet. Keeping her hands from shaking would be hard, but in a way that was the least of her problems. She had to give Coulson some sort of notice, and she had to keep her face clear of all the terror raging in her mind. She should have known it was too good to be true. Blinking away the last tear she allowed herself to shed, she slowly rose, and cast one glance in the mirror. There was no way this would work. Taking a deep breath, she went out to the corridor anyway.


	6. Chapter 6

**Fools **

**Summary: **A seven chapter collection of SkyeWard drabbles based on Lauren Aquilina's song _Fools. _Set after_ The Only Light in the Darkness. _

* * *

_Got what I want, but now I'm scared _

He felt horrible, in a way he hadn't done in a while. Not since she had been shot, and he was sure she would die, right in front of his eyes. In a way that was rather the same situation he faced now – he still didn't know what they wanted with her, but her being killed before him seemed as likely a possibility as any. Yet that wasn't the horrible part. What ripped him to pieces inside was the fact that through all of it, now was the only time he didn't have to lie to her. He had no need to play her. When speaking his feelings for the first time in years, he was being entirely honest. And it was horrible that that honesty was what got her to go with him, was what would get him to succeed with the mission. He spilled his heart out, only to shoot it himself. What a wonderful day.

There was no way for him to save her, either. She had taken that first step, the one he denied himself everyday for the past month, but then finally gave in to. And it was amazing, or it would have been, had it not been such a bittersweet moment. She had no idea who he was; she had no idea where they were heading. Skye smiled, lighting up his world, only to have his thoughts darken it all a second later. He had to focus, letting her figure him out now would be incredibly bad. So Grant Ward smiled back, letting some of his feelings shine through that smile, all the while being furious at himself. He should never have allowed himself to this, he got in way too deep. And it was a depth that was as dark and lonely and frightening as his thoughts.

She interrupted him then, and suddenly, he felt even worse.

"I'm S.H.I.E.L.D. You're HYDRA."


	7. Chapter 7

**Fools **

**Summary: **A seven chapter collection of SkyeWard drabbles based on Lauren Aquilina's song _Fools. _Set after_ The Only Light in the Darkness. _

* * *

_Tell me what we chose_

Tension and silence filled the air.

She stared at him.

He watched her.

None of them moved.


End file.
